


I Spy

by obisgirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 02:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14740338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obisgirl/pseuds/obisgirl
Summary: Wish Hook watches his daughter and Robin grow closer and he reflects on the loss of love in his life too.





	I Spy

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time characters are the property of Disney and Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis. This fanfic is for pure entertainment.

The first time Hook hears that Alice has someone new in her life, he immediately goes into overprotective papa Hook mode.  No one is good enough for his little girl and he feels slightly warier once he learns the identity of his daughter’s love, the daughter of the Wicked Witch, Zelena.  

 

He knows Zelena, he knows that she’s a good mum and Robin is a good person. 

 

That’s not what bothers him, though. 

 

Still, he has to assure both Zelena and Regina, that’s not his problem and it initially, does not go over well but Regina manages to calm down her sister. 

 

Other thoughts start popping into his head, like, it’s this sting of jealousy that Alice has someone in her life that she can love openly, but he doesn’t. 

 

Then, there’s the other idea and the ridiculous notion that he’s being replaced.  

 

Alice loves him. He’s her papa, her old man, her father; no one can ever replace the love she has for him with someone else.  

 

Slowly,  Hook’s feelings begin to change as he observes Alice and Robin together from afar, literally watching their moves through his spyglass.  

 

It’s clear to him that Robin truly loves his daughter and Alice loves her too. 

 

Now, it’s the concept of love that gnaws at him.  

 

Love has only brought him pain for much of his life.  

 

First, with his mother dying.  

 

His mum tried to hang onto her life for as long as she could, being there for her boys but never letting on that she was sick the whole time.  Killian remembers feeling angry with her for lying to him. If he had known how sick she was, he would have done everything possible to make her life better.  

 

Then, there’s his father, Brennan Jones.  

 

Killian looked up that man, he was his hero but all heroes fall and Brennan’s place in his heart turned from bright to dark so fast once he abandoned him and his brother to slavery.  

 

And then Liam.  Liam was his anchor for so long, keeping him from giving into the darker side of himself. When he lost him finally to Dreamshade, Killian was at the end of his rope.  He had lost too many people that he loved. He became a pirate and in doing so, he felt free for the first time in ages and unafraid. 

 

But still lonely.  

 

Enter Milah, his first and only love.  

 

He knew that he loved her from the first moment he met her in that tavern, saving her from that drunken brute.  Killian also felt certain that she loved him too but she had other priorities, a husband and a son who needed her.  There was no time for her to run away with a random Captain. The family came first, and Killian accepted that. He knew how important family was. 

 

He remembers meeting her in secret at the tavern and her watching him, talk about his stories traveling and seeing different places.  

 

Her attitude changed towards her husband, became more spiteful and hateful. She kept her feelings to herself at first and then eventually, let everything out about her feelings towards Rumple.  

 

No matter how Milah felt about her husband, it was clear to him that she genuinely loved her son and hence, the conflict of whether to stay or leave.  If Milah stayed, it was for her boy; if she left, it was because she had grown to truly hate her husband. 

 

Killian didn’t judge her for feeling conflicted.  He understood her torment and offered what solace he could, trying to ease her decision but always reminding her, that she needed to do what was right for her but also keep in mind that her son needed her too.  

 

She came up with a system of sorts, keeping a tally of the things that her husband did.  Eventually, things became too much for her and she made the decision to leave him finally.  

 

Together, they came up with a plan to make it look like she had been kidnapped by pirates and give her husband, a fighting chance to prove himself worthy of her.  Milah watched the whole thing from down below and she knew, when Rumple didn’t fight her, there was no turning back. 

 

They sailed the seas together for almost ten years and Killian would like to think, it eased her pain but it never did.  She missed her son Baelfire terribly and knew, that she had to come back for him one day. 

 

The day that they came back,  Rumpelstiltskin was no longer the village coward but the Dark One.  They dueled, the way they should have years ago and things got more complicated once Milah showed up. He crushed her heart and murdered her on the deck of  _ The Jolly _ , took his hand to spite him and became the vengeful pirate Captain Hook.  

 

He was so close to getting his revenge on the crocodile and then a little detour to Rapunzel's tower, changed all that.  It was never the real Rapunzel, it was the witch all along with a surprise, from their one night stand, a baby girl. 

 

Hook could have turned his back on his daughter years ago, focusing on his revenge; could have grown to resent his child for taking him away from the life he knew but that never happened.  No matter how Alice came into this world, she has always been his rook and little starfish. 

 

She’s also the cause of his pain too.  His heart is cursed because of her and his vanity.  He lost sight of his true mission and they don’t have the life they should have because of his mistake.  

 

So, Hook watches Alice through his spyglass, feeling a sense of comfort that Alice has someone to love her.  Alice has Robin, she has someone to lean on and be there for her. She also has Rumple too, serving as a surrogate father of sorts.  

 

That’s a relationship he never would have thought possible but he’s become family with his arch-rival. 

 

“Hook?” 

 

He turns and finds Regina coming to him.  “Don’t you know it’s not polite to spy on people?” she teases him, taking the spyglass from him and putting it away,  “You have no need to worry about my niece, you know. I’ve known Robin since she was a baby, Zelena raised her right and has lots of love to give,” 

 

Hook turns to her.  “I know, I have no reason to worry, love,” he muses,  “That’s not it, though,” 

 

“Oh?” 

 

“I’m happy for Alice that she’s found Robin, I just wish I have what she does; a tiny shred of happiness,” he muses,  “Love has only brought me pain,” 

 

Regina gets it.  “I know, I’ve been where you are,” she reminds him, “I thought vengeance is what would make me happy, give myself the happy ending that I never had but it was never going to be enough,” she reasons.  

 

Hook shrugs.  “You think it’s still possible for people like us? Reformed villains?” 

 

“If you keep the faith that it’s possible, anything can happen, Hook,” she says,  “Just keep believing,” 

 

“Says the mother of the Truest Believer,” 

 

Regina smiles at him.  “Heroes tend to have that effect,” she says, “It’s incredibly infectious,” 

 

“What about love, though? How can you still believe in love after it’s caused you so much heartache?” he questions. 

 

Regina sighs. “Hope,” she says, “I know going back to my old ways will crush everything I have around me and I won’t do that. I have too much to lose, too much I don’t want to lose; love being one of them. Love hurts, Hook but it can only bring hope too,”

 

Hook looks again at Alice and Robin, enjoying a quiet picnic together with sandwiches and marmalade.  “You look happy starfish,” he whispers, “I’m happy for you, love,” 

 

“Alice has all this love to give because you gave it to her,” Regina continues,  “I know you might not think it possible, but you have love to give too. There’s hope for you,” 

 

He looks at Regina, stands up from the rock he was sitting on and goes back with her to the camp, putting his arm tentatively around her waist. “Thank you, love,” he says. 

 

“Anytime Hook,” 

 

Alice looks across the river at them and smiles.   

 

She spies her papa opening up to letting someone take care of him and maybe, one day, even open up to love the way she has and Alice couldn’t be happier for him.  She’s hopeful for her papa that he can be happy too. 

 

The End

 


End file.
